Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksa has called for a Parliamentary Select Committee to investigate the state’s failures in responding to Cyclone Ditwah, while controversially urging the government to study disaster preparedness measures implemented under former president and accused war criminal Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
Addressing parliament yesterday, Rajapaksa said responsibility for the crisis was being shifted between ministers and officials instead of being properly examined.
“Unlike the committee appointed to look into the container incident, which was to cover up issues, a committee that can honestly investigate where things went wrong should be appointed for this crisis,” he said.
Rajapaksa further urged the government to examine how disaster warnings were handled under the administration of Gotabaya Rajapaksa during extreme weather events in 2020.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who served as Defence Secretary during the Mullivaikkal genocide in 2009, oversaw the final phase of the war in which tens of thousands of Tamil civilians were massacred. He earned the nickname “the Terminator” for his central role in the military campaign, marked by indiscriminate shelling, enforced disappearances, mass detention and systematic torture.
“Taking the valuable lessons from that administration will not be considered wrong. There is no coordination between the current ministries and officials. The instructions are met with opposition most of the time. They do not stick to a plan. We have doubts about whether the government’s system is working amidst this crisis and if they are prepared,” he said.
The remarks come as Sri Lanka continues to grapple with the catastrophic fallout of Cyclone Ditwah, which has killed hundreds, left thousands missing, and affected over a million people across the island, with severe devastation in the central highlands and the Tamil homeland in the North-East.
Rajapaksa also questioned whether the government could proceed with the current budget framework amid the unfolding humanitarian and economic crisis.
He said the budget should be revised in line with current conditions and national recovery needs.
“Hold discussions with the IMF and inform them of the current situation. It is difficult for the public affected by the disaster to rebuild their lives under the existing tax system per the current IMF conditions,” he added.
Namal Rajapaksa’s call to “learn” from the administration of his uncle, former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, has drawn sharp scrutiny, given Gotabaya’s record as one of the principal architects of Sri Lanka’s wartime mass atrocities.
After assuming the presidency in 2019, Gotabaya further entrenched militarisation across the island, appointed accused war criminals to senior state positions, suppressed dissent, targeted Muslim and Tamils, and oversaw a catastrophic economic collapse that plunged the country into its worst financial crisis since independence.
Human rights organisations have repeatedly accused him of crimes against humanity, while survivors and families of the disappeared continue to demand international accountability for the atrocities committed under his command.